Laurent Didier of Trek Factory Racing reaches the summit of 11,539-foot Hoosier Pass south of Breckenridge, in the lead Friday, Aug. 22, 2014, during Stage 5 of the USA Pro Challenge cycling race from Woodland Park to Breckenridge. (Christian Murdock, The Gazette)

BRECKENRIDGE — Cycling races are one of the most challenging sports for television crews to cover because the subject isn’t confined to a field, ring or track.

Stages routinely run for 100 miles, and often more — meaning if you want to follow the action live, you’re moving with it. In Colorado, where high-altitudes and mountains often interfere with transmitting signals, adding bad weather can mean broadcasters are forced to fill time with talk and uneventful views of the finish. That’s exactly what happened during Stage 5 of the USA Pro Challenge.

On Friday morning, a fixed-wing aircraft took off from Colorado Springs airport to fly between 14,000 to 18,000 feet above the race as it moved from Woodland Park to Breckenridge. But it was later grounded by the FAA because of icy conditions. At the top of Hoosier Pass at 11,539 feet, before the race arrived, temperatures hovered in the upper 40s as a steady rain fell.

When the plane is deployed, motorbikes with a large antenna installed on the back — carrying a driver and cameraman — beam live race footage up to the aircraft hovering overhead, which then would have transmitted it to the nearest microwave towers on nearby mountaintops. From there, the signal is sent to a receiving center near the stage finish line. From there, it moves to NBC Sports’ productions trucks. Crews then produce the show, selecting the camera angles that best tell the story of the race, adding graphics and packages where needed. Finally, that single output is sent to a truck that sends it up to a satellite so it can be beamed to the TourTracker application and other international broadcasting partners.